A Time of Light. A Time of Darkness.
John 1:1-18

It is a time of light. It is a time of darkness. The winter equinox occurs on Tuesday, December 21, at 10:00 a.m. The equinox marks the beginning of winter with the shortest day and the longest night of the year. To quote the Prophet Isaiah, “Behold, the darkness shall cover the earth.” Yet this time of year is also the season of light. We wrap our trees and drape our shrubbery with lights. We erect our Christmas trees indoors and festoon them with lights and shiny ornaments. Even our towns adorn the streets and buildings with lights and ornaments. Light and darkness have always been powerful metaphors for all that is right and all that is wrong in this world.

We are living in a time of remarkable light. This is particularly evident in the fields of medicine, technology, and economics. The wonders of modern medicine in developed countries are truly remarkable. If you suffer a stroke, doctors can pinpoint the clot with incredible scans, and, in some cases, they can enter the body through your circulatory system and pluck the clot out of the blocked blood vessel, saving your life and restoring movement and cognition. Truly amazing.

Cancer, in many instances, is becoming a chronic condition instead of a terminal illness thanks to developments in surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and targeted treatments. Or consider this, in a recent study, “the little blue pill” has been shown to be eighty percent effective in warding off Alzheimer’s Disease. Even the poorest among us have access to excellent medical care. Truly remarkable.

In the area of technology, private companies are launching people into space. The long-term goals of these investments are to move environmentally toxic industries into space, to mine mineral resources from asteroids, moons, and planets, and to explore the universe. Visionaries, like Elon Musk, envision a future where humans will return to Earth from the farthest reaches of space for vacations!

Artificial Intelligence is growing exponentially, heralding a near future where intelligent machines help to care for our sick and elderly, perform dangerous tasks, and even help to defend us in battle. A.I. also promises to enhance human cognition through brain implants that will put all of the information of the internet at our immediate disposal and even reverse the paralysis and impairment of brain and spinal cord injuries. Incredible!

Although it is not readily apparent, global extreme poverty has fallen dramatically since 1990. Over a billion people have been lifted out of grinding poverty in the span of twenty years. We are living in a season of light!

And yet it is also a time of darkness. Over 800,000 people have been killed by COVID-19 and its variants in our country alone. Now Omicron is on the rise, rattling world markets, prompting renewed restrictions, and raising anxiety levels.

The rise of violent crime in our cities and the increasingly widespread mob lootings have made us all very uneasy. If you consume cable news regularly, it is enough to render you apoplectic or induce nervous prostration. Whether it's Fox News or MSNBC or CNN, we are bombarded by alarming stories. White supremacy or mass migration at our southern border is threatening our democracy. The legal justice system must be torn down and rebuilt, or we need to fund, expand, and train more police officers. Climate change will destroy our planet very soon, or the Green New Deal will destroy our economy. The list of hair-raising stories goes on and on. What they all share in common is a fear of the darkness, albeit the causes identified and the solutions offered to the darkness are vastly different. It is a time of darkness.

I am sure you noticed that light and darkness are primary metaphors in the introduction to John’s gospel, but John’s focus is not on current events. Instead, the darkness and the light speak of spiritual realities that shape human life. Light and darkness are in conflict with each other. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (vs. 5). The metaphors are personified in the text. Darkness is trying to overcome light, and the primary battle ground is the human soul. Although the Light of the world is shining, darkness is obscuring the Light’s illuminating power in human life. As Paul says to the Corinthians, “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4). The end result is that human beings are spiritually benighted. It is a tragedy. The darkening of the human soul is the root cause of all our problems as a race and as a planet. People desperately need the Light, but they love darkness more than light. And yet the Light is still shining in the darkness for all the world to see. It cannot be extinguished.

There are many parallels between the introduction of John’s gospel and Genesis Chapter 1. The opening words of both texts are “in the beginning.” The climax of Genesis 1 is the creation of humans, made in God’s image. The climax of John 1 is the arrival of a human being, the Word made flesh. In both scriptures, the Light is a powerful force, illuminating the darkness covering the face of the deep in Genesis or shining into the darkened human soul in John.

John helps us to understand who the Light of the world is and what the Light does. The Light is the Word. The Light, who is the Word, is eternal. He was in the beginning with God (vs. 2). As we sang together at the beginning of the service, “Of the Father’s love begotten, ere the worlds began to be.”

The Light, who is the Word, is also the creator. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being (vs.3). Everything in the world came into existence through him (vs.10).

The Light, who is the Word, is also the source of Life. “What came into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people” (vs.4). Life in the introduction to John’s gospel certainly includes physical life for the Light, who is the Word, brought all creation into existence, but the primary focus of the text is on spiritual life. This is what is new about the advent of the Light. “To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born not of blood or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man (physical life), but of God (spiritual life)” (vs. 12-13).

Human beings have always been exalted creatures and image bearers of God. To borrow the language of the Psalms, “We were created a little lower than the angels and crowned with glory and honor.” But we are also fallen, darkened, and degenerate creatures. With the advent of the Light, who is the Word and the Life, we can achieve an even more exalted status. We can become children of God. We can return to our heavenly Father’s family.

All this is possible because the Light, who is the Word and the Life, became flesh and dwelt among us. The Greek word John employs is the same word used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) to describe the tabernacle in the wilderness, the tent of meeting, the place where people could meet with God.

In the beginning, Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the day in Eden, but all that was lost when they fell from their original state of grace and innocence. The tent of meeting in the wilderness was a temporary and partial restoration of that original communion with God, but now, with the birth of a child who is the Light and the Word and the Life, God tabernacles, God dwells among us again. Or as Eugene Peterson dynamically renders John’s words, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood!” The Light, who is the Word and the Life, became a human being. This is the unfathomable mystery we celebrate during Advent.

The Light shares a special bond with God. He is the only begotten Son of God. He is close to the Father’s heart. Literally, the text says he is “in the bosom of the Father.” The image is of a father cradling a young child on his chest. Because of the Light’s special relationship to the Father, he can make God known to us. We can see the Light’s glory and through him, we can see God. If you want to know God, if you want to become a child of God, you need only look to the Light, the Word, and the Life made flesh in Jesus Christ. When we receive him and believe in him, we are given power to become one of God’s children. The darkness that clouds our minds will be dispelled, and, in its place, we will receive grace and truth.

This is where we come into God’s economy of illumination. “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him” (vs. 6-7). Just insert your own name into the text. There was a man, a woman, or a child sent from God whose name was …. This is our most pressing mission. People really need the Lord, and now they can be liberated from the darkness and become children of the Light. All around us are people who walk in darkness, people whose minds are clouded, but they can see a great light. The Light can shine on and in them just as the Light has shone on and in us. We must let our little lights shine. We must not let Satan blow them out. We must not hide our lights under a bushel basket. Instead, we must let our light shine for all the world to see.

Brothers and sisters, friends, we are living in a time of amazing light and abiding darkness. This tension is symptomatic of the spiritual struggle between the light and the darkness that has raged from the beginning for the hearts and minds of human beings. But know this: the Light shines in the darkness and the darkness will never overcome it. The darkness does not have the power to extinguish the Light, try as it may.

This means we are on the winning side, come what will. So let us testify to the Light in order that darkened souls may know him, receive him, believe on his name, and become beloved children of God. They too can grow close to the Father’s heart and be filled with light and life, with grace and truth.

All praise be to God the Father, to the Son who is the Light, the Word, and the Life made flesh, and to the Holy Spirit. Thanks be to God. Alleluia! Amen.